#14 How was the 33rd anniversary you ask? Typical Ritchie! Thoughts from the Back Deck... On a Sunday evening!

#14 Thoughts from the Back Deck...How was the 33rd anniversary, you ask? Typical Ritchie event! 


Isaiah 48:17 (English Standard Version)
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.

So many of you asked at the first service, how our 33rd anniversary was... 

Answer: Typical for a Ritchie event! 

My diet has had to change due to the tumor on my pancreas. No more alcohol of any kind. No cheese/ dairy. No fatty foods. Limit my carbs. It's a long list of no's! 
As we have found, it actually makes it difficult to go out and eat. But Michelle and I decided to go out to eat and I assured her I could find something grilled on the menu and she wanted seafood. 

Well, it turned out the only fish they had was fried expect salmon or shrimp. (Fried anything is another no-no!) Neither sounded good so I ordered an appetizer of steamed green mussels. It comes out, and the mussels must have been in the warming box for hours. Dried out. They were about as hard and chewy as the old Bazzoka bubble gum I had when I was a kid 50 years ago. I thought I was going to lose a filling or crack a tooth. I send it back and that is something I have only done 2 or 3 times in my life. It was a real shame what they did to those mussels! Ruined! 

I decided I was not that hungry and I was going to order a side salad. One of the other "no's" is salad dressing. We now have two big bottles on our kitchen table. One bottle is olive oil and the other is vinegar. 

I have learned many restaurants don't have oil and vinegar for salads so eating a salad "naked" is no big deal.

To my joy, when I asked the server if they had oil and vinegar, he affirmed they did. I ordered a side salad. Someone from the kitchen brought out a nice side salad. There was a small black cup on the side with oil in it. 

No vinegar- no problem. 

I dump the oil on my salad and load up my fork. The tines of the fork spear the lettuce, tomatoes, and even a little cheese (I can cheat a little). I take a big bite, and to my surprise, the oil is vegetable oil. Ugh! Ever taken a mouthful of cooking oil and swished it around? If not, DON'T! Trust me on this! 

Meanwhile, Michelle is enjoying her crab leg dinner, baked potato, and salad with blue cheese dressing (which later the next day made her sick). 

By now, the server, knowing it was our anniversary was embarrassed. He was a good guy. As I was paying for Michelle's dinner and my iced tea, the server brought us a free piece of chocolate cake for later. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was diabetic. 

Honestly, we started laughing at the table and couldn't stop once I had the vegetable oil salad. The night turned into a typical Ritchie outing. We laughed all the way home Friday night. We laughed throughout the day Saturday and as we recounted the night's events to our son. And today (Sunday) I am still smiling to myself as I recount this all to you. 

So what does this have to do with the verse of the day? 
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.

Don't know!  😀 
This verse and its context is a reminder that He is always teaching us what benefits us (profits) and is leading us in the ways that are best. 

Maybe that ability to laugh at life is a profit to us all?

Maybe the company is what makes the meal?

Maybe some food is better than none and there are plenty with none. 

Maybe sweating the small stuff, in the big picture of life, just isn't profitable?

Hey, the Lord is God. It's a good day every day because He is with us! That I do know... and that vegetable oil doesn't taste good! I know that too! 

Smile and have a good one!


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